''The Proud and Damned'', also known as ''The Proud and the Damned'', ''Proud and Damned'', and ''Proud, Damned and Dead'', is a 1972 American-Colombian co-production

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by Ferde Grofé Jr. that was shot in Colombia. Some sources quote the title as "The Proud and ''the'' Damned", which is not the original name. The actual title, "The Proud and Damned", is clearly displayed in the title text of the original film version in the opening of the movie. Some images erroneously use the title "The Proud and the Damned".

Plot

In 1870, ex-Confederate mercenaries and

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

veterans Sgt. Will Hansen (

Chuck Connors Kevin Joseph Aloysius "Chuck" Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have p ...

), Ike (

Aron Kincaid Aron Kincaid (born Norman Neale Williams II; June 15, 1940 – January 6, 2011) was an American actor, known for voicing Killer Croc on '' Batman: The Animated Series'' and Sky Lynx on '' The Transformers''. He also voiced characters for ''T ...

), Hank ( Henry Caps), Jeb ( Smokey Robards), and Billy ( Peter Ford) have just emigrated from their home state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. After their arrival, they are ambushed by Colombian soldiers who force them to come meet General Martinez, the evil, cold-hearted dictator of their country. Martinez sends them to San Carlos, a town where rebel forces are preparing to start a civil war against Martinez's army. The Texans are instructed to live among the rebels, and report back to Martinez what they know within the next couple of days. Martinez warns them that they will be severely punished if they fail him. The next day, while on their way to San Carlos, Will's gang runs into a

gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

family who are on their way to the same town. Will escorts them to the town and takes an interest in the daughter, Mila. They all ride into San Carlos, meet the governor, and rent a cabin outside of town. Will and Mila sneak out to spend the night together. Mila's father is angry when he finds out and cuts off her ear. Will shoots Mila's father. Will and his men are detained over the killing and find themselves unable to report back to Martinez. Will and Mila are banished from the town because the townspeople are angry over Will killing Mila's father. Will and Mila are captured by Martinez, who hangs Will for disobeying his orders. Mila rides back to town to get Will's friends, who give him a funeral, and vow to avenge his murder. They join the rebels in a battle with Martinez's army and drive them back. They later ambush Martinez and the rest of his surviving soldiers in a canyon, joined by the rebel army's captain. They manage to kill Martinez, but all are gunned down by his soldiers except for Billy, who was unconscious after falling from his horse. The film ends with Billy riding off into the sunset.

Cast

as Will Hansen *

as Ike *

Cesar Romero Cesar Julio Romero Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor and activist. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years. His wide range of screen roles included Latin lovers, historical figures in c ...

as San Carlos' Mayor *

José Greco José Greco ( Costanzo Greco; December 23, 1918 – December 31, 2000) was an Italian-born American flamenco dancer and choreographer known for popularizing Spanish dance on the stage and screen in America mostly in the 1950s and 1960s. Backgro ...

as Ramon (the gypsy) * Smokey Roberds as Jeb * Henry Capps as Hank * Peter Ford as Billy * Andres Marquis as Gen. Alehandro Martinez * Conrad Parham as Capt. Juan Hernandez (the mayor's nephew) * Maria Grimm as Maria Vargas * Nana Lorca as Carmela (the dancer) * Anita Quinn as Mila (Hansen's gypsy girlfriend) * Álvaro Ruiz as Chico * Fernando González Pacheco as Lieutenant *

Ignacio Gómez Ignacio Gómez (born c. 1962; also known as "Nacho") is a Colombian journalist known for his high-risk reporting on organized crime, corruption, and paramilitary groups. In 2000, he received the "Special Award for Human Rights Journalism Under Th ...

as Padre * Ernesto Uribe as Aide * Rey Vásquez as Innkeeper * Bernardo Herrera as Rollo

Production

With a

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

of ''The Proud, Damned and Dead'', the production was filmed in 1969 in

Villa de Leyva Villa de Leyva, also called Villa de Leiva, is a touristic colonial town and municipality, in the Ricaurte Province, part of the Boyacá Department of Colombia. The town is a Colombian National Heritage Town and is on the tentative list for UNES ...

. The film was unusual for a Ferde Grofe production in that it was his first feature film production outside of the Philippines (not including the

American International Pictures American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...

pictures

High School Hellcats ''High School Hellcats'' is a 1958 American exploitation film starring Yvonne Lime, Bret Halsey, and Jana Lund and directed by Edward L. Bernds. It is part of a series of exploitation films about juvenile delinquents produced during the 1950s b ...

and

Hot Rod Gang ''Hot Rod Gang'' is a 1958 drama film directed by Lew Landers and starring John Ashley. The working title was ''Hot Rod Rock'' with the film also released under the title ''Fury Unleashed''. American International Pictures released the film as a ...

from which he had his name removed from their credits), and secondly that there was no pre-sale - the production was a huge financial gamble for him. George Montgomery is credited as a co-producer by virtue of putting up $125,000 for Chuck Connors' pay. Grofe was concerned about what he had heard of Connors' on-set reputation and insisted that Connors' payment be placed in escrow and payment only made upon satisfactory completion of the film. In addition to the film's main stars, three smaller roles were filled by actors who would later appear in

The Day of the Wolves ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

: Andres Marquis, Smokey Roberds and Henry Capps.

Aftermath

Grofe was unable to distribute the film through his usual industry channels, and it would take another three years to sell the film to the Texan entity that eventually distributed the film. George Montgomery threatened to sue Grofe for the return of his funds once it became clear that there was no immediate film sale.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Proud And Damned 1972 films Colombian historical drama films 1972 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Films directed by Ferde Grofé Jr. Films set in Colombia Films set in 1870 Films about mercenaries 1970s historical adventure films American historical adventure films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

Aftermath

See also

External links